Two sixth plate thermoplastic cases, each housing an ambrotype portrait, are offered together as a single lot dating to the 1850s or 1860s. The larger case features an elaborate rococo cover design centered on an oval cartouche filled with a densely molded floral basket, surrounded by sweeping acanthus scrollwork and a beaded border, with brass hinges visible along the top spine. The second, more upright case carries a geometric cover pattern built around a large central rosette within a plain oval reserve, framed by a rope-twist and bead border with foliate corner accents.

The open case reveals a sixth plate ambrotype of a seated couple beneath a pressed gilt mat with scrolled corners and a burgundy velvet pad with a woven diamond motif on the lid panel opposite. The man wears a dark frock coat with a white cravat and faces the camera directly, while a woman in a dark dress sits slightly behind him at his left shoulder. The image shows silvering loss and surface foxing concentrated in the upper portion.

Thermoplastic Union cases of this decorative type were manufactured primarily in the northeastern United States during the height of the ambrotype era, and the floral basket cover design appears in multiple documented case pattern catalogs of the period. The second case's rosette pattern is similarly consistent with commercially produced thermoplastic housings of the mid-nineteenth century.

Property of a Palmer, Massachusetts gentleman.